No Smoking, Only Shooting This one's for the locals; I apologize profusely in advance to those of you who are not from Arizona, who deserve better than this. I also beg the forgiveness of the tourism industry for my state of residence, which surely won't appreciate the extra attention this issue is about to receive. I feel badly about this, especially for the offshore audience, that scattered diaspora of British, Australian, South African, Brazilian, Polish, Israeli and Maltese readers (among others) who frequent this site. They might be looking for something a touch more worldly, what with a new pope in office and all. Then there are my fellow Americans abroad, seeking Joe Twelve Pack's take on the war, or the economy, or the government responsible for both of those messes. But if you're a "Zonie" (now that my throat is clear), you probably already know where this is heading. It's almost like staring down the barrel of a gun. Governess Janet Napolitano is confronted by a bill that wormed its way out of that underpaid body politic, our Republican state lawmakers. I only mention their party affiliation because this bill was financed, for the most part, by the National Rifle Association. It isn't really the creation of any new law, but a relaxation on a restriction that has been in place for a very long time. Now, unless the governess stamps "veto" on the front of it, the law will allow citizens to bear arms in bars and restaurants. Hold it down out there - it also says that, if one is armed, one may not have a drink. The pro-gun lobby says this will empower the people to protect themselves and others through violence, peace through better armament. In my personal opinion-gathering exercise, I could not find one person who did not feel that such an idea amounts to insanity. Perhaps I just run in liberal circles, I don't know. Two small-business owners, a software engineer and a graphic designer, however, don't make up the usual suspects found at leftist rallies - although the graphic designer is an animal-lover. Of the sampling, they were split 2-2 between those who support President Bush and those who do not. Who cares what the American street says, though? The NRA found a willing ear in the Arizona Congress. Let's not gloss over the nuts and bolts of this bill; let's take it apart and clean it. First off, any business that doesn't want to allow folks to fully enjoy their Second Amendment rights can simply hang up a sign that says, "No Guns", the same way they can ban smoking in their establishments. The government can't guarantee the right to keep and bear arms on private property, but they can stop themselves from stopping you and your hogleg at the door. Up until now, customers have been required to leave their weapons in their vehicles. I once met a person whose friend had been shot and killed after a bar scuffle; when he walked outside, he found his opponent wielding the pistol that had been in his truck. So all the law (as it exists) had done was prolong his agony, I suppose the NRA would say. I don't have any data on this, but I'm willing to bet that most watering-hole fatalities are the result of hand-to-hand combat, that the most prevalent murder weapons out there are knives and bottles, fists and feet. This bill's backers would have us believe that a few gun-toting citizens - who won't be drinking, as Prohibition must somehow underpin the Second Amendment - would keep the peace. Guns are used to save lives and prevent deaths, don't you know? That does happen on occasion, it's true. But those instances are overwhelmed by the number of cases in which an unlawful shooting takes an innocent person's life. How injecting potentially more violence into society will bring about less violence overall is beyond most people's comprehension. It makes for a good potato-sack race partner with the notion that introducing unprovoked war to the Middle East will somehow pacify the region. Still, one can't review a restaurant without having dined there, so I mentioned last night that I can't really lay down an opinion on this subject until I have actually walked into a bar with a gun on my hip - just as I could not have laced into Rush Limbaugh without having first tried some of his favorite pills. It's only fair. If Napolitano signs this bill into law, I told Web Guy, I will do just that. He shook his head, and said he hopes I never get the inclination to write about murder. Paul Heller 04/20/05 << back to the archives
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